Can an employer go into your personal email, password protected?

I just heard from a close friend, "fired" because a friend of his sent him, to his personal email, information on a company you can make extra income using your computer. His employer took this as him looking for another job which he was not. We are in Atlanta, Georgia.

Can an employer go into your personal email, password protected?
If any part of that chain touched or passed thru company-owned equipment or services, yes, the employer can.
Reply:It probably is legal. If the company has a policy that says that an employee cannot check his e-mail at work, and the the company is allowed to monitor all computer activity (and many companies have this policy) then the company did nothing illegal. Your friend was probably an at-will employee (as nearly all employee's are) and can be fired at any time for any reason.
Reply:If it was an account provided by the company, then yes they can. I find it difficult to believe that the person was fired for that type of email though.
Reply:Yes. Employers are monitoring keystrokes for production purposes, as well as their IT departments monitoring what employees are doing on their computers on a daily basis, minute to minute.


Since employers pay for employees to work, and don't want them on their company computers visiting chat websites or something like porn websites, there are certain rules that companies set forward in orientation or through memos that clearly outline what is acceptable and what isn't.





Now if this person can prove that he never received or was not aware of any specific guidelines, orientation materials, or memos regarding his computer usage, then he may be able to sue or get his job back. The IT department prints reports on everyone's computers showing the history and websites of where the employee went on for that day.





But companies are pretty specific about computer usage by employees on company time. This is not only a security issue, but it creates shorter storage, bandwidth, and other technical problems that may cause the computers to malfunction. Plus it may invite spyware and malware onto company computers.
Reply:Personal e-mail. If he read it on a work computer or had it sent to a work e-mail address or over a work server, he probably violated company policy and the boss can look at any of those.
Reply:Legal NO.





Lesson: Don't check your personal email at work!!
Reply:Yes, you are using their server. Keep your personal email at home, only use company computers for company business.
Reply:Any information passing through your employer's servers is subject to company review.
Reply:not where i work, the union wouldn't stand for it

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